• Cybercriminals begin to exploit the cloud for hacking

    Cloud password cracker is a sign of things to come: cloud computing offers advantages of scale and cost, but its reliance on the Internet makes it vulnerable to hacking; “The cloud is going to offer the serious criminal huge computing resources on tap, which has lots of interesting applications,” says one security expert; “If nothing else, it should change a few threat models”

  • House of Lords hears evidence on risk of cyberterattacks

    The House of Lords hears evidence that the U.K. communication system is vulnerable to cyberattacks; experts advised the Lords that since up to 90 percent of the critical infrastructure on which Europe depends is privately owned and crosses international boundaries, then only co-operative planning between public and private sectors, as well as EU member states, can hope to deal with the risks.

  • Cisco annual information security report highlights risks of social media

    Cisco has released its annual information security report for 2009 and the year-end analysis; the report highlights the impact of social media on network security and the critical role that people — not technology — play in creating opportunities for cybercriminals.

  • Cyberattacks on U.S. military systems rise

    In 2000, there were 1,415 cyber attacks on U.S. military networks; in all of 2008 there were 54,640 malicious cyber incidents targeting DoD systems; in the first six months of 2009 tThere were 43,785 such incidents.

  • How vulnerable is the smart grid?

    The smart grid is a theoretically closed network, but one with an access point at every home, business, and other electrical power user where a smart-grid device is installed; those devices, which essentially put the smarts into the grid, are computers with access to the network; in the same way attackers have found vulnerabilities in every other computer and software system, they will find vulnerabilities in smart-grid devices

  • Industry, academia join hands to solve U.S. most pressing cyber threats

    Northrop Grumman forms cybersecurity research consortium to help secure the U.S. critical infrastructure and counter growing threats; consortium’s members include MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Purdue

  • CERT Australia promotes on network security

    Australia’s Attorney-General’s Department national security resiliency division says CERT Australia would be a two-way clearing house for notifications from local and international authorities, with responsibility for tracking down compromised machines in Australian domains

  • Top 10 information security trends for 2010

    Further adoption of cloud, social media, and virtualization technologies will continue to blur the network parameter; organizations — large and small — should consider a layered, centralized security solution that provides multiple security touch points within the network, rather than around it

  • New report: The line between cybercrime and cyberwar is blurred

    New McAffee cybersecurity report: “International cyber conflict has reached the tipping point where it is no longer just a theory, but a significant threat that nations are already wrestling with behind closed doors. The impact of a cyberwar is almost certain to extend far beyond military networks and touch the globally connected information and communications technology infrastructure upon which so many facets of modern society rely”

  • U.S. Army funds a new discipline: Network Science

    The U.S. Army gives Rensselaer Polytechnic in New York State $16.75 million to launch the Center for Social and Cognitive Networks; the new center will link together top social scientists, neuroscientists, and cognitive scientists with leading physicists, computer scientists, mathematicians, and engineers in the search to uncover, model, understand, and foresee the complex social interactions that take place in today’s society

  • GAO: U.S. unready to face growing cyber threats

    A GAO reports says that cyber-threats facing federal networks and the U.S. critical infrastructure are becoming increasingly sophisticated; the number of attacks is exponentially growing (security incidents grew “by over 200 percent from fiscal year 2006 to fiscal year 2008”), the report concludes that the United States is not optimally prepared to protect itself from such attacks

  • U.S. suspects terrorists are exploring counter-infrastructure cyber attacks

    A lack of security protections in U.S. computer software increases the likelihood that terrorists could execute sophisticated counter-infrastructure attacks in the future; DHS official says that if terrorists were to amass such capabilities, they would be wielded with “destructive and deadly intent”

  • Cyber threats now targeting traditional companies

    U.S. companies, even small and medium size, are more and more exposed to cyber threats from organized crime, foreign intelligence services, and probably terrorist organizations; 85 percent of U.S. critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private companies — and these companies are especially vulnerable to determined attacks which may ruin or seriously disrupt company operations

  • Raytheon's insider threat solution receives federal validation

    Raytheon’s SureView product is now FIPS 1402 Level 1 complaint; validation means that Raytheon’s enterprise monitoring and investigation tools may now be used by government agencies, including the Department of Defense, to protect sensitive government data in computer and telecommunication systems

  • Raytheon-led team to provide the Pentagon with network-security early warning system

    A team including Raytheon, General Dynamics, SAIC, Eye Street Software, and BCMC receives a $28 million contract to provide the Pentagon with an early-warning system for defense against cyber attacks on military networks